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Sunday, July 31, 2011

We are hosting author/historian David Herlihy’s talk Bicycle: The History (Yale University Press) on Tuesday, September 13, 2011, at 7 pm. The event is free to the public.

Herlihy is a historian, freelance writer, and member of the Harvard Cycling Club. His work has been featured in The New York Times, The Boston Globe, Boston Magazine, and Historic Preservation, and on NPR and Voice of America. He lives in Hull, Massachusetts.

Feel free to share the link, or request fliers for your event. Let us know if you have any questions. Happy pedaling!

A $2.1 million bikeway bridge connecting the Hilltop and the Scioto Trail is to be completed soon, but cyclists won’t be headed anywhere fast when they get to the other side.

The bridge, which took a year to complete, opens in conjunction with a road project that created bike lanes on Eureka Avenue and Harper Road on the Hilltop, connecting W. Broad Street to McKinley Avenue. The intent is eventually to connect the West Side to Downtown via the trail.

“It’s going to be a real nice loop from W. Broad to Downtown, all the way to (Lou) Berliner Park,” said Bradley Westall, greenways manager for the Columbus Recreation and Parks Department.

But it will be quite some time before cyclists can complete the stretch.

Russell Shorto is the author of “The Island at the Center of the World” and a contributing writer at The New York Times Magazine. He is working on a book about Amsterdam.

Related

Amsterdam

AS an American who has been living here for several years, I am struck, every time I go home, by the way American cities remain manacled to the car. While Europe is dealing with congestion and greenhouse gas buildup by turning urban centers into pedestrian zones and finding innovative ways to combine driving with public transportation, many American cities are carving out more parking spaces. It’s all the more bewildering because America’s collapsing infrastructure would seem to cry out for new solutions.

ABOUT THIS PROJECT

Hi there! Thank you for visiting my Kickstarter page. With your support, I’d love to launch what I believe is a truly innovative product into the world.

The YouTurn is a revolutionary new type of cycling accessory. It uses motion activated directional signals to essentially turn the cyclists hand into a giant turn signal. It helps keep cyclists safer at night by making sure that motorists understand their intentions.

So why do I need $50,000? Working with a local product design firm, we've developed a budget that will take this project all of the way through to the manufacture of the first 1000 pieces. The math was simple, and ended up at $50 dollars per piece. As it ends up, the largest hurdle to jump is the cost of tooling, which comprises most of the cost. That's why I need your help. If I can get just 1000 people to pre-order this device, we can get this project off of the ground, and take a truly innovative product to market.

The idea for the YouTurn came from what I noticed as a void cycle light industry. While there are plenty of cycle lights available, most of them just blink and strobe, and in most cases are more of a distraction than a benefit. If you've ever driven behind a cyclist you know exactly what I'm talking about. Additionally, these products do nothing to inform the nearby motorist that the cyclist is preparing to turn. The signals that do exist require modification of the cycle, which detracts from the appearance of the bike while at the same time making it more likely to be stolen. The YouTurn can be thrown into a bag and taken with you anywhere you go.

Saturday, July 30, 2011

Highlights
9 riders in core group, 15+ cyclists rode with us at one point or another
52 miles
3200 feet climbed
80's to start, 100+ in the sun
Started in Coshocton - Roscoe Village
Passed through Chili, New Bedford, Charm, Farmerstown
Lots of Amish sightings

For A Guinness World Record, “Have Bike, Will Travel”

During his visit to Houston, Avijit Chakraborty, who hopes to get into the Guinness World Book of Records for around-the-world cycling, met with members of the local Indian community and received accommodations and financial support from them. Rajinder Pal Singh, who is a talented tabla player hailing from Patiala and New Delhi met Avijit at the Sikh Center of Houston and members of the Durga Bari showed him around at their temple complex. From left: Santosh Mukerji, Jayanta Bandyopadhyay, Champak Sadhu, Avijit Chakraborty, Partha Ghosal, Partha Sarathi Chatterjee, Gopendu Chakraborty.

By Jawahar Malhotra

HOUSTON: Travelling alone along the long backroads can have its share of adventures, especially if you’re doing it on a bicycle and also happen to be in a foreign country and don’t know the language or customs.

“I was in Yugoslavia, about 10 kilometers before the Hungarian border, minding my own business in a bar,” recalled Avijit Chakraborty of that cold, winter day as he rested in the hot, muggy Bayou City between destinations this past weekend, “and this lady came upto me, very friendly and talkative. She wanted to know all about me.” Chakraborty told her he was an Indian from Calcutta on an around-the-world bicycle tour.

Thursday, July 28, 2011

What is the Cycle Tavern?

The Cycle Tavern of Columbus is a 16-person bicycle powered entirely by pedaling. There is room for 15 people seated and one "standee" in the middle. It's perfect for pub crawls, bachelor/bachelorette parties, corporate team building, Short North Tours, Downtown Columbus Tours, sporting events like The Columbus Clippers, OSU Buckeyes, or Columbus Blue Jackets, weddings, tailgating, any kind of celebration……the ideas are endless!

The Cycle Tavern is rented on an hourly basis like any other party bus or other special event rental vehicle. Typically, the Cycle Tavern is used as a safe, fun way to do a pub crawl or progressive dinner, but does not necessarily require stopping during the rental period. The renters choose 3-5 destinations that they would like to visit throughout the tour. We will meet at the set Cycle Tavern location, hop on board, and begin pedaling to each desired location. We try to keep things on our set routes but custom routes are an option, too (ask about custom routes when you book your tour!). See our FAQ section for information about drinking alcohol while on board.

The brilliantly-conceived Frankenbaby of a taqueria and a tricycle, Todd Barricklow’s Taco Bike is taking street food to it’s next logical step: A complete mini-kitchen on wheels.

It’s both simple and incredibly ambitious, kind of like all of Barricklow’s mobile creations. The Santa Rosa artist has already created a number of freak bikes, soldering bits and pieces of metal and machine together to craft hybrid multi-use vehicles, including the Two Penny, a mega-trike (made for the 2009 Handcar Regatta) with 8-foot high wheels and his family’s own one-of-a-kind cargo-hauling bikes.

Most CVD can be prevented or at least delayed until old age, the authors write. Prevention may be primordial--preventing risk factors before they occur--or primary--modifying existing adverse risk factors to prevent an initial CVD event.

It is no longer acceptable to simply treat cardiovascular disease and stroke, but in addition we must redouble efforts to not only prevent disease but also prevent the development of risk factors.

Whereas pharmacological interventions clearly reduce risk factors and prevent CVD events in clinical trials, there is less evidence about the value of public policies--such as those to reduce salt consumption, eliminate smoking, and encourage physical activity. This is largely because it is more difficult to conduct long-term cost-effectiveness analyses.

To investigate existing evidence about the value of CVD prevention, the AHA commissioned this policy statement, and the team reviewed over 200 papers.

Some of the main findings were:

Every $1 spent on building biking trails and walking paths would save an estimated nearly $3 in medical expenses.

Reducing average individual sodium intake to 1500 mg/day in the US would lead to an estimated 25.6% decrease in blood pressure and healthcare savings of $26.2 billion a year.

Increasing tobacco taxes by 40% would reduce smoking prevalence by an estimated 15.2% by 2025, with large gains in life expectancy and quality of life and a total savings of $682 billion.

For every $1 spent in wellness programs, companies would save about $3.27 in medical costs and $2.73 in absenteeism costs.

Tuesday, July 26, 2011

Say goodbye to bike shops. Minneapolis's Bike Fixtation will sell you the parts you need to get your bike back on the road, and give you the tools to make your repairs right there.

It's happened to every biker. A flat tire in an inconvenient place on your commute, and the nearest bike shop is a long walk away. Most casual bikers don't carry extra tubes or tools with them; and so any repair work on the road can mean an end to a bike ride, and potentially leaving your bike locked up somewhere slowly rusting as you forget about it in your frustration. That's why the idea of the Bike Fixtation is so brilliant: a place for you to buy new parts and then install them yourself.

The Fixtation is really just a vending machine, but with bike parts instead of snacks (though there are some snacks in case you're getting hungry on your ride). What makes it most convenient is the bike mount and tools--attached with aircraft cables to prevent theft--alongside the vending machine. You can replace that flat or adjust your brakes yourself without dealing with the characters who usually are employed at bike shops. Of course, you may not know how to replace a popped tube yourself; now is certainly the time to learn, so you can take full advantage of the Fixtation when it moves into your city.

Sadly, right now, only one Fixtation exists in the world, and it's in the bike-friendly Minneapolis (though a second one is also in the works in the city, and Times Up! operates one in--where else--Brooklyn). You can contact Fixtation to buy a unit, but until the company expands more broadly, bikers everywhere else will have to wait jealously for the company to take off enough to expand and give them their own Fixtations.

COLUMBUS, OH(WOSU)-During summer months more Central Ohioans head for bike trails in the region. The network of paved and gravel paths winds through parks and alongside creeks and rivers. The newest section of the bike trail system .a two-and half mile stretch along Alum Creek on the city's northeast side ..offers bicyclists an entry point to a much longer off-road path. WOSU's Tom Borgerding reports.

Beneath a grove of mature trees at Innis Park, Columbus mayor Michael Coleman arrived to dedicate a recycled bridge and a two-and-a-half mile section of the Alum Creek Bike trail.

The newest section of trail becomes part of what is now a 165 mile-long system that offers bicyclists and pedestrians an off-road means of getting around town. Mayor Coleman, who described himself as "bikin' Mike," for the 60 people in attendance, describes Columbus as a boom town for bicycling.

Maps will be provided. No fee. Ohio Amish Country - where the pace is more relaxed and the scenery is absolutely stunning! This ride will take you into Holmes County which has the largest Amish population in the world. We'll pass through several cozy villages such as Charm, New Bedford, and Sugar Creek - the little Switzerland of Ohio. Enjoy beautiful scenery, sample homemade foods and listen for the clip-clop of a horse and buggy. After the ride, visit Roscoe Village, a restored 19th century canal town.

Routes of 55 and 72 miles with rolling to hilly terrain. Ride starts from parking lot near the south end of Roscoe Village. Take SR 16 east to Coshocton and exit at the SR 541 exit. Turn left onto SR 541, cross the freeway, and then take the first left past Roscoe Village (S. Whitewoman St.) The parking lot is located at the SW corner of SR 541 and S. Whitewoman St.

Portland, Ore., has an extensive system of bike paths and lanes, like this one along the Eastbank Esplanade.

By Janis Miglavs, Travel PortlandExpensive gas isn't the only reason to switch from four wheels to two. Bicycles offer a great way to get to know an urban area, saysElizabeth Cutler , co-founder of SoulCycle, a New York-based chain of cycling workout studios. "It's fun. It's an easy way to see a city in a different way, to slow down a bit and look at the architecture and the landscape," she says. More urban areas are adding bike lanes, and most have rentals for visitors to hit the trails. She shares some favorite cities for biking, withLarry Bleiberg for USA TODAY.

This site provides details about all the great recreational bicycle facilities around the Baltimore/Washington metropolitan area. Listed here are many area recreation trails and bicycle routes. These routes attempt to avoid heavy traffic areas by making use of various recreational paths, rail-trails, and back streets.